JOIN USAndhra Pradesh government to examine need for Covid-19 booster dose
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has asked the state health officials to examine the reports suggesting provision of a Covid-19 booster dose for the public to augment protection against the virus.
The state has so far administered vaccines to over 2.18 crore people, with more than 84 lakh individuals having received both doses.
Officials expect to complete the full vaccination of the eligible population i.e., 18-years-old and above, by the end of February.
In a review meeting on the pandemic on Thursday at his camp-office in Tadepalli, Reddy inquired about the need of a booster dose for a long lasting immunity against Covid-19. The CM then asked the health department to come up with a forward action plan after the completion of two-dose vaccination for everyone across the state.
The CM had earlier instructed the officials to study the protection offered by the vaccines and also the reasons why some people are getting infected even after taking the vaccine.
There are about 15,000 active cases in the state as of Friday, while at the height of the second wave in May, there were over 2.11 lakh cases.
The recovery rate in AP is now at 98.58 per cent, while the positivity rate dropped to 2.11 pe rcent. Officials said that there are zero Covid-19 cases in about 10,000 village secretariats at present.
However, keeping the festival season in view, the YSRCP government has decided to extend the night curfew to 6 am.
To tackle the cases during a possible third wave, officials informed that 20,964 oxygen concentrators and 27,311 D-type oxygen cylinders were made available at the hospitals. Oxygen supply works will be completed in 95 government hospitals by the end of September.
The Chief Minister asked for the completion of recruitment in the government hospitals within three months.